One of my cousins, who is a fundamentalist, young-earth creationist, has posted this to her facebook page. It infuriates me, and I really want to say something. Please, how can I respond in a way that's at least a tiny bit diplomatic, but doesn't leave this LIE standing without comment?

I'm thinking of something like ...

"This may sound terribly clever to you, but displays a complete misunderstanding of evolutionary theory."

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If we ever travel thousands of light years to a planet inhabited by intelligent life, let's just make patterns in their crops and leave.

How about giving her a science book for her birthday? Clearly, she needs one...

LOL!!! I like that.

I'd need at least two copies of the book, because one of my other cousins "liked" it. I'm going to have to get my brother to chime in on my side of things. Maybe my mom too. We could outnumber them unless they call for reinforcements.

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If we ever travel thousands of light years to a planet inhabited by intelligent life, let's just make patterns in their crops and leave.

The belief that something came from something because that is the only concept their minds can handle. The existence of an infinite god makes all the sense in the world to them while anything else existing, no matter how simple, just blows their minds. So they say it isn't possible. Their hangup over "nothing" is a projection of their fears, which are many because they spend most of their time denying reality.

And they mock our thoughts, when they don't have any.

(By the way, the atheism galaxy poster above needs to be updated. Science currently estimates that there are at least 100 billion galaxies. All made just for us of course. )

Then correct the errors one at a time as they come up...and they will!

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Truthfinder:the birds adapt and change through million of years in order to survive ,is that science, then cats should evolve also wings to better catch the birdsMailbag:On a side note, back in college before my conversion, I actually saw a demon sitting next to me in critical thinking class.

I’m sad to see that you repeat whatever you are told without actually checking it out or doing your own research. Atheism is the lack of a belief in god or gods. That’s it. The reasons atheists don’t believe in gods is that there is no evidence. Now, we do have evidence for the Big Bang Theory, the theory that your cute little sign gets so very wrong. It’s a shame that some people must lie about other people and what science actually says. The Big Bang Theory is the best and most accurate theory for what we see in the universe. A theory is what science uses in the scientific method. Scientists observe an effect and then hypothesize what caused this effect. They do experiments and more observations to confirm or deny their hypothesis. Then with they have a lot of supporting evidence for a hypothesis, it becomes a theory. Many things are theories, including the theory of gravity, which is also considered a law, which is when a theory invariably holds true, again like gravity.

You depend on the scientific method every day, when you use your car, a computer, modern medicine, etc. But when this scientific method shows your myths to be in error, you attack it without thinking.

Your little sign gets many things wrong. No, the big bang theory does not posit that there was “absolutely nothing”. There are other hypotheses out there that think there was indeed something, but we don’t know if they are right yet. We may never know, but that doesn’t mean that this prove that your god is the “right’ one or that it exists at all. The big bang theory also doesn’t think that anything “magically exploded for no reason”. Again, there are hypotheses for this too and again, no need for any gods.

Another thing it gets wrong is that no one claims that “everything magically rearranged itself”. The “everything” obeyed the laws of physics and chemistry. This sign, seems to assume a Dr. Seuss universe where things happen randomly. Happily for us, that doesn’t happen and it demonstrates your sign to be a lie. You depend on reality being the same everyday and it is. The theory of evolution, again, one more theory that has been shown to be accurate again and again, and one that you depend on when using antibiotics, also obeys the laws of physics and chemistry.

Now, you using this flawed sign gives me much reason to mock you since you’ve shown your ignorance, or laziness, to the world. I can also mock you and your hypocrisy for using the same science that supports such things when you find it convenient and comfortable but attack it ignorantly when you feel your religion is endangered. If you are a Christian, then you believe that a god created the universe; created two people who were ignorant of everything; created a “snake” and either allowed it in to the “garden” or didn’t notice it there; cursed the people for listening to the “snake” one of its supposed created creatures; flooded the earth completely leaving no evidence at all behind; gave people a list of laws not realizing that they wouldn’t follow them well; and finally decided to make a version of himself to kill to clean up the mess he created back with that “snake”. I’m sure you mock other religion’s creation stories, that magic cow in Norse mythology is pretty funny, so what makes your religion any better than theirs?

please post velkyn's response on your cousin's page and post your cousin's response. If her page is open post a link to her wall. we could have some fun.

Unfortunately, that's probably a great way for me to become disowned by a large portion of my extended family. I don't know how my mom escaped with her sanity. I did send email to my brother, so we can brainstorm about this. I keep hoping he'll join us here on wwgha, but so far he hasn't taken me up on it.

Thanks for all the great ideas so far, and please do keep them coming.

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If we ever travel thousands of light years to a planet inhabited by intelligent life, let's just make patterns in their crops and leave.

I do have a couple of right wing Christians on my Facebook and one did make a jab at atheists. Iirc he was trying to call us out as being hypocrites because we 'shove' our atheism down people's throat and complain when the religious do it, I just went into depth about why atheists are so vocal and there was no clashing, but then he wasn't unreasonable and he himself doesn't come off as somebody who'd force religion down people's throat (he's never tried it on me).

I guess, if a person has some sense of reason then if you explain fully they may understand...of course, quite an optimistic position I admit and it's a rarity to find that it actually applies to people.

If you don't want to provocative it seems the best solution is to avoid any kind of criticism in your post, avoid claiming they're ignorant, that they're wrong or that God doesn't exist (as tempting as it), you could go as far as suggesting that there are Christians who accept the big bang theory and evolution, but simply believe that it was the work of God, the difference is that an atheist doesn't believe in any gods and that's what draws the difference between then and everybody else who isn't an atheist. Not all scientists[1] are atheists.

"So long as gravity exists, the universe can and will create itself from nothing."

I believe that's Carl Sagan.You could challenge her to prove she's smarter than Carl Sagan, AND knows more about physics than him. Either this'll snap her out of it, or she'll make herself look like an idiot in one of two ways:1: Not knowing who Carl Sagan is.2: Trying to argue with Carl Sagan.Enjoy the show!

"Why are you projecting your beliefs onto atheists? You are the one who believes that without your god nothing else could have existed, not atheists. Atheists are not the ones who are making something out of nothing -- quite the contrary."

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John 14:2 :: In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

LOL to this. Eating the body of christ paints a perfect portrait.. Yeah, I'm sure the torture of the son of god proves to these idiots that they are too stupid to really know what they're doing in the first place, and therefore all sins are forgiven. Only not mine. Mine weren't, because I didn't eat jesus, strap him to a tree and murder the guy.

Did you know that the aztecs used to wear the flesh of their sacrifices? And yet, somehow, they were the most avid astrologers of their time.

You know what, the perfect answer is to say. d.u.m.b. an abbreviation for Dumb Underlings Mooned over Bullshit. That sounds like a good dish for denny's..

Or just say what cops say - ignorance isn't an excuse for being more stupid.

Uh, excuse me, i need to appease the gods so the chariot of the spirits will raise the sun tomorrow. And I need to worship jupiter so it doesn't fall on us at the end of times.

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"If you find yourself reaching for the light, first realize that it has already touched your finger.""If I were your god, I would have no reason for judgement, and you have all told endless lies about me. Wait - you do already. I am not amused by your ignorance, thoughtlessness, and shallow mind."

LOL to this. Eating the body of christ paints a perfect portrait.. Yeah, I'm sure the torture of the son of god proves to these idiots that they are too stupid to really know what they're doing in the first place, and therefore all sins are forgiven. Only not mine. Mine weren't, because I didn't eat jesus, strap him to a tree and murder the guy.

Did you know that the aztecs used to wear the flesh of their sacrifices? And yet, somehow, they were the most avid astrologers of their time.

You know what, the perfect answer is to say. d.u.m.b. an abbreviation for Dumb Underlings Mooned over Bullshit. That sounds like a good dish for denny's..

Or just say what cops say - ignorance isn't an excuse for being more stupid.

Uh, excuse me, i need to appease the gods so the chariot of the spirits will raise the sun tomorrow. And I need to worship jupiter so it doesn't fall on us at the end of times.

You are trying too hard. You almost sound like a Christian trying to blend in with what you believe[1] atheists believe.

That's because I was a christian that recently realized what's reality, and i'm trying to get it all out of my skull...

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"If you find yourself reaching for the light, first realize that it has already touched your finger.""If I were your god, I would have no reason for judgement, and you have all told endless lies about me. Wait - you do already. I am not amused by your ignorance, thoughtlessness, and shallow mind."

Update. I decided to let it be. Partly out of respect for her beliefs (even though I don't really respect them), partly out of hesitation to be quite totally out to my extended family of religious nuts.

That changed today.

A DIFFERENT cousin posted a snarky comment on my post from the ACLU about the idiots who want to pass a law protecting doctors who withhold test results on fetuses. In other words, they want to protect kooks who withhold medical facts about whether the fetus is healthy, in an effort to prevent abortions. I am totally and completely pissed at my cousin for his comment, immediately responded sticking up for women's rights, and am "like"ing every women's rights and atheist links I can find. I'm sure he didn't intend to radicalize me, but that's apparently the result. I'm attending my first atheist gathering tomorrow, and my 80 year old mother is considering joining me. Yay Mom! And I've sent email to my brother to back me up on facebook.

Grrrr. How can I possibly be related to these people???

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If we ever travel thousands of light years to a planet inhabited by intelligent life, let's just make patterns in their crops and leave.

unfortunately, it seems that many of us have total idiots related to us.

If a doctor keeps pertinent facts from a patient, they should lose their license *immediately*. I would think that goes totally against medical ethics. And again, more evidence that the "right" wants to simply control women. IS the fucking doctor going to take care of this child since they think they have a right to make this decision?

I can just imagine a scenario that a idiot theist doctor decides that someone "deserves" to die from cancer and thus keeps that information secret.

right now, in PA, a group that advocates for the disabled is suing the state for trying to cut transit funding for the disabled. Oh you can have a handicapped child but fuck you if we'll help you take care of it.

GROWL totall right-wing assholes.

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"There is no use in arguing with a man who can multiply anything by the square root of minus 1" - Pirates of Venus, ERB

My brother posted a comment against the cousin's point of view and I've unfriended my cousin. I've no time for his bullshit. Turns out my bro unfriended him ages ago for a variety of reasons. He describes my cousin as "damaged goods."

I do consider myself fortunate that at least my immediate family members are all rational. In fact I have to laugh when the religious nuts in the family challenge secular upbringings because that side of the family has tons of teen pregnancies, abuse, alcoholism and other issues. My immediate family? None of the above. All healthy, sane, no drugs, no arrests, no major problems, no gods. Ever. But of course that must be an anomaly, right?

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If we ever travel thousands of light years to a planet inhabited by intelligent life, let's just make patterns in their crops and leave.

The funny part is that we don't have to misrepresent their position for it to look ridiculous. The primitive belief that an all-powerful genie abracadabra'd the universe into existence for the sole purpose of waiting on humans hand and foot for eternity is humorous on its own merits.

One of my cousins, who is a fundamentalist, young-earth creationist, has posted this to her facebook page. It infuriates me, and I really want to say something. Please, how can I respond in a way that's at least a tiny bit diplomatic, but doesn't leave this LIE standing without comment?

I'm thinking of something like ...

"This may sound terribly clever to you, but displays a complete misunderstanding of evolutionary theory."

Quote is so full of sh&*.

I am Agnostic and I don't think all of this came from nothing. I think there was always something here although most likely not living, maybe not our current forms of matter as well but you can't get something from nothing.

The thing that gets to me is this: "We don't know" is not a satisfactory answer for theists. For some reason, they just can't handle the idea that humans just don't have all of the answers. So, they make up stupid shit like this to pretend like they have something on the mean old atheists and the conspiratorial science community.

My brother posted a comment against the cousin's point of view and I've unfriended my cousin. I've no time for his bullshit. Turns out my bro unfriended him ages ago for a variety of reasons. He describes my cousin as "damaged goods."

I think that's a real shame. Family is family. There are more important things than what people believe or don't believe. I hope one day you can get reacquainted because it seems like such a waste to cut someone off for something so petty. Sorry but it has to be said. I would never cut ties with my cousins or friends just because of something like that. You never know when you're going to need someone.